Ravens erase ten-point halftime deficit to rally past cold-shooting Hawks

RINDGE, N.H. (January 24, 2002) - Franklin Pierce , ranked tenth in the Northeast Region, erased a ten-point halftime lead to defeat No. 7 Saint Anselm College, 71-64, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.

After Saint Anselm opened the second half with a Mike Zeija layup to extend its lead to 12 points (42-30), Franklin Pierce rallied with a 19-0 run, holding the Hawks scoreless for eight-and-a-half minutes in the process, to take its first lead of the game and never trailed the rest of the way.

With the Franklin Pierce lead at seven points (49-42) at the 12:31 mark, Saint Anselm closed the gap to two points (49-47) after a three-pointer from Gui Carvalho at the 10:50 mark.

However, the Ravens built the lead to ten points (57-47) with an 8-0 run, with six points coming from junior V.J. Kwity (Torrance, Calif./West), with 7:26 to play.

The Hawks would not go away, trimming the deficit to two points (66-64) with 46-seconds to play after a Carvalho layup. After a missed jumper from Franklin Pierce's Zvonko Ilic (Nis, Yugoslavia/K.K. Student) with 20 seconds on the clock, Saint Anselm had a shot to tie the game, but a turnover by Carvalho with nine seconds to play forced it to foul to get the ball back.

The Hawks were whistled for an intentional foul and then two bench technical fouls and the Ravens canned five of the six free throws it was awarded to ice the victory.

Senior Kevin Scott (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Catholic) led Franklin Pierce with his eighth double-double of the season as he totaled 23 points, on 9-15 shooting from the field and 5-7 at the line, and 12 rebounds (four offensive) to go along with two blocks and three steals.

Kwity also netted 23 points (18 second half), on 6-11 shooting from the floor and a 10-12 effort at the line, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.

The Ravens out-rebounded the Hawks by a 41-32 margin for the night and enjoyed a 23-8 scoring advantage at the free-throw line. Franklin Pierce finished the night shooting 41.5-percent (22-53) from the field, including 45.8% (11-24) in the second half. Saint Anselm finished shooting 39.7% (23-58) for the night after a 50% (15-30) effort in the opening 20-minutes.

Senior Todd Manuel led the Hawks with 23 points, but Franklin Pierce held the NE-10's leading scorer to just nine second-half points and 2-8 shooting from the field in that span. Manuel also totaled seven rebounds.

Junior Scott Hoffman added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Zeija chipped in 11 points and two steals.

Franklin Pierce (10-8, 7-7 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Bryant College at 3 p.m. Saint Anselm (10-7, 8-6 NE-10) travels to Saint Michael's College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.